the final compilation

My paper is most likely going to be organized and driven by quotes both from within the movie Pineapple Express and the various articles that I’ve read on the film itself as well as what I’ve found out about the actors writers and producers that put together the film itself. I want to begin with what the actual basis of the friendships are about and the ways in which one can change through different outside influences. It’s not only what influences them to change but what the variable itself effects in the overall scheme of the characters lives.

As most of our previous papers have been a preparatory exercise for this final paper I will be drawing heavily upon the connections that I’ve already made. I will reintroduce many of them and elaborate on the connections I have made between the characters and instances or characters themselves. I hope I won’t be reaching to far in some of the instances but I believe I can tie everything together well.

My biggest difficulty is the structure of the paper. I rarely write in a way that is structurally sound. I tend to write as I think things and as they come up and though I know this is the whole reason we have editing I feel like my voice loses its fluid movement and transitions when I butcher to much of my paper up. However as it is the larger portion of my grade I will be going over it with a fine tooth comb with out a doubt.

The Breakdown

My thoughts on my focus question haven’t relaly changed at all but they definetly have evolved. I still believe that the betrayal between characters typically strengthens their bonds; however the reasons behind the increased affection have changed from what I originally believed. When I began this project I thought they became friends solely because of their predicament whereas now I believe it’s because of what their situations showed them about themselves. My thesis isn’t really all that changed but I believe my orginization and the break down of my final paper will be written differently now. They termed this movie a “bromance” as a sort of romantic ideal for males I suppose: car chases, evading police, drugs, guns, and explosions.

A great idealization of Saul and Dale’s friendshisp is when after selling marijuana to some middle school kids Saul goes for some snacks and drinks. In the mean time Dale is arrested by the policewoman liason for the school. He claims he thought it had been decriminalized and that he used marijuana to fight bulimia. When in the back of the car he explains to her what had brought him up to that point with all the murder and corrupt cops and she tends to believe him about it all enough to at least do some digging. Saul without knowing Dale’s progress jumps in front of the cruiser getting hit, and his red blood and guts looking slushees cascade over the cruisers windshield and front end. When the liason gets out to investigate Saul steals the cruiser despite Dale’s progress. It shows the lengths to which they are willing to go help eachother.

Stein, Times, & Pineapple Express

1)The article I chose details Seth Rogen’s across the board type of talents as far as writing and acting are concerned. His rise through comedy clubs and as a sitcom writer from 13 to 18 as the often nervous giggling protege of tv/film writer/director/producer Judd Apatow.

2)”We write stuff where the universe ends and martians land,” says Goldberg; Rogen’s childhood and current writing partner.

This does seem to be a spot on description of Goldberg’s style or lack there of as it seems sometimes. His emphasis less on the more and more on the less, more or less. I guess I’m saying that though the plot may be straightforward and unconveluted(keep the baby/stoner father to be or not), the relationships between characters are complex in their fruition.

3) “Television did Judd Apatow wrong, so he stole their business model”-Joel S. Stein of Time

I disagree in the way that Apatow paid his dues in Television he had a good run of shows such as Freaks and Geeks but simply did not work out due to the target audiences being not nearly as mainstream consumer as the hosting companies would like. I think he’s definetly taken alot of their better points as far as having a vast army of writers producing constantly instead of a couple writers working very in depth on a certain work.

4) If I had the opportunity I would ask Stein how his personal life or views were effecting the way he wrote or questioned the subject matter. For example people that are very right wing anti-marijuana for any reason have written some smoldering pieces on Pineapple Express where as those that have at least admitted to not having a major problem with it tend to be easier on the whole. I disagree with the stealing TV’s business model. I think he took some main points but I don’t believe that was the intention or even the full effect.

Slushee Savior

The scene that I’m going to analyze is from

Pineapple Express

in which Saul and Dale’s relationship really comes to a head. Saul goes to light a sneak-a-toke pipe and Dale is extremely frustrated and goes to state that perhaps they don’t function all that well sober. Saul tries to provide the example that by being hit by a cop car and throwing slushees he saved him from being arrested when in reality the lady cop believed Dale about the murder and corrupt police.
Dale goes to state that they’re relationship is purely a business matter.
“Saul: How about in the park, when I said you were my friend… you didn’t say anything back.
Dale Denton: Well, that’s easy. It’s because we’re not friends. You are my drug dealer. The only reason I know you is because I like the drugs you sell. If you didn’t sell drugs, I would have no idea who you are, and I wouldn’t be here right now. I would be fantastic!
Saul: Oh.
Dale Denton: I’m sorry, that sounded really mean… just to hear that, that sounded really mean.
Saul: No, I see. The monkey’s out of the bottle now!
Dale Denton: What? That’s not even… a figure of speech.
Saul: Pandora can’t go back into the box – he only comes out.”
-(IMDb.com 2008)
This scene is really the culmination of what Dale has been struggling with the entire film. Saul really IS his best friend as is apparent in him going to rescue him from a fortified grow operation while its being attacked by rival asian drug runners, yet he can’t seem to cope with the fact that that is what his life has come to at the time. Things change after they rescue eachother as it turns out in a sort of trial by fire friendship.

Pineapple Expressions

My final focusing question for my eight page paper on the movie Pineapple express is going to be ” How does the betrayal between friends and enemies within the movie contribute to the characters personal groth or relationships with the other.” I have a basic knowledge of the movie I own it so it won’t be a problem to watch it in order to figure out the minute details in which I can further explore. My reason for choosing this focusing question in the beginning was the character Red played by Danny McBride. He’s the middle man between Sol and Ted Jones and the only person who knows that Sol has the Pineapple Express as he was giving Sol an “exclusive sneak preview” (pineapple express). From the his very introduction into the movie he is coerced into betraying Sol by Ted Jones’ hired hitmen yet by the end of the film he is a trio of best friends with Sol and Dale. He snitches on them in the first place, then when they fight and duct tape him to the chair he claims he will cover for them and then yells “Sol and Dale Denton just went out the back maybe if you hurry you can catch them!”(Pineapple Express), and when Sol gets captured by Ted Jones and taken to the infamous El Dorado he gets amped on helping save Sol but bails on Dale as soon as they reach Jones’ hideout. With the ending credits almost rolling and every charcter near death as they share a breakfast they speak of getting a friendship necklace that splits into three pieces but they feel like they’re all best friends. The two hitmen betray eachother as well with one always wanting to go home to have dinner with his wife while the other claims he used to be ruthless and always stating that he’s there for his partner. In the end he ends up shooting him and the other gets run over by a Dae Woo but hey why not figure out whats going on with that relationship too while I’m at.

Lost in the Muzak

I personally agree that the muzak that is joined accordingly to each within the Coen Brother movies Raising Arizona and Oh Brother Where Art Thou compliments and expresses the characters themselves. Hi McDonnough from Raising Arizona is the quintessential hill billy criminal, holding up convenience stores and taking the change for example; while making off with or without his package of diapers. His capers can only be described as half cooked from the beginning and thus can’t be thought to have any real hope of succeeding; which communicates his character perfectly through the soundtrack. In comparison with Raising Arizona, in Oh Brother Where Art Thou Ulysses, Pete, and Delmar emit the feeling of a folksy and simpler time on screen through great lighting techniques and their subsequent attire. However, their musical representation within the movie brings home the souther country vibe to the fullest effect. The music symbolizes and corresponds with their oxymoronic wholesome/escaped inmate image. It conveys at the very least the daily struggle and glimpses of the brighter tones of daily life during the Depression; and the lengths people would go to in order to be able to see their family or ones they loved do well. Personally I love that the trio along with Tommy form the Soggy Bottom Boys simply for the fact that Ulysses is always boasting his higher educational merits and frequently being elaborately verbose in situations that not only do not call for it but would translate more smoothly if dumbed down a bit; yet he is still the lead singer of the folk? bluegrass? country? sensation that is the Soggy Bottom Boys. I’m aware that there shouldn’t be a question mark after each of those but to be honest its not really my typical listening so I’m not quite sure how to describe it. However that being said I would still bump some “Man of Constant Sorrow” in my rider; no doubt about it.

 

VS.

Psychographic Debate

I believe that Moss is definitely correct in believing that Raising Arizona is a psychographic film. Many of the characters within the film are arguably fictional or at the very least a strong figment of Hi’s psyche. Ed for one is a former law woman who suddenly takes the plunge into a criminal mindset in which she can justifiably kidnap a baby simply because another person has more than a family can conceivably handle. Not only does Ed present the idea of kidnapping the baby but she frowns on other illicit actions, such as Hi robbing the corner store, when it is to provide for the very child she chose to abduct in the first place. In these conflicting moments it’s hard for me to believe that Ed is a really in fact doing these acts or perhaps even exists at all in Hi’s life, as it seems much more likely that it’s simply Hi’s mental battle with himself and Ed is a symbol of the life in which he feels he should be working for; not necessarily even what he wants.

Another essential point for me on the debatable issue of whether Raising Arizona is a dream type sequence or reality is the “biker of the apocalypse”, Leonard Smalls, whose entrance denies all plausibility with plants catching fire as he motors past. Leonard also seems to be able to be in the midst of a scene without official or authoritative presences even detected him. Personally if I saw someone walking around with sawed off shotguns, throwing knives, and grenades visibly on their person I’d hope someone would have the good sense to stop them. For Hi’s mental battle Leonard is the counterbalance to Ed; Leonard the epitome of shoot first, ask questions later mentality while Ed is the raise your gun, handcuff the individual, and interrogate the heck out of the prisoner. It’s also hard to conceivably know where the convicts or Hi himself was in every point in the film; which Leonard always knew without explanation. Thus it is hard for a viewer to believe upon diagnosing the film, though maybe not initially, that all or most of the events in this movie actually occurred.

Raising Arizona

My focus question was what is the tone of the film. Throughout Raising Arizona I saw the familiar motif of struggle and redemption. I believe the overall tone would be one of coming to grips with what your life is or has become, as it dips from highs and lows depending on the portion of the film your watching. H.I. constantly is in and out of jail a seemingly continuous cycle in his life; jail being a second home possibly more comfortable than everyday society. His redemption comes in the form of Ed, the officer who photographs inmates during in-take, an the subsequent marriage as a promise to a more normal  and fruitful life. Briefly they live a golden years more better suited to being counted in weeks or perhaps days shattered by the inability of Ed to bear children. The hardships continue in the procuring of a child so they can keep their faith in their relationship and the righteousness of their new life path alive. Within themselves they wrestle with the thought of whether their actions are wrong or justified, stating that the Arizona’s merely have to many children to handle efficiently. Within the same day to of H.I.’s fellow convicts escape from prison and come to visit leaving H.I. in the precocious position of his loyalty to his new self and family “unit” and that of his former days, when he felt much more himself. The dream of the “biker of apocalypse” foreshadows the pending events of tribulation that befall Nathan Jr. as he makes his way back towards his questionably “rightful” home. After hearing H.I.’s boss call him out for the theft of baby Nathan and the subsequent reward offered, his 2 convict friends decide to steal the child for themselves, falling in love with him in return and forgetting him at every stop. It seems as if in this movie the original home is the most stable and it degrades through each transaction of baby snatching until the very end. Leonard, the biker of the apocalypse, retrieves the baby after essentially blackmailing Nathan Arizona, and a battle ensues between H.I., Ed, and Leonard as a finale of the misfortunate circumstances that befall the main characters; complete with shotguns and grenades. Returning Nathan Jr. to the Arizona’s is bittersweet for the couple as they fight mentally with the idea that they are no better than the convicts in their taking of the boy, forgoing even the reward. The final redemption is in H.I.’s dream in the final dream predicting a possible future in which his life comes full turn into what they had hoped and believed that Nathan Jr would bring into their lives.

a little bit of this… a little bit of that

My name is Connor Mills and I’m a pretty laid back and easy going guy. School is by no means my strong suit, not that I’m not capable, I just tend to let my mind wander hither and yon. I’ve held a job since I was 13 years old so it’s personally hard for me to balance education with work since I’m an immediate gratification type of guy. I know money will be forthcoming with the completion of my degree but the choice between doing a paper or earning some cash has been a no brainer, however I’m working on slowing down enough to plug on through and get my degree. I love psychology but I’ve been heavily invested in music since about my Sophomore year in high school and is the reason I transferred from TCC to pierce. Audio production is one of the funnest things I’ve ever done with my life but I’m currently weighing my options since I’ve wanted to do clinical psychology since 8th grade. Helping others seems to be a good way to spend my life singing the 9-5ers anthem but music is something I have an easy time doing no matter what the context whereas some of the offshoot classes I have to attend for psychology numb my brain to the point of frost bite (math :[ ). I’ve played soccer since I was 3 or 4 years old but haven’t got the change to play with work and school in a couple years though I hope to remedy that with indoor pick up games soon.

whats really good.

This is my first blog and by all means it will be mind bending and earth shattering; or at the very least help me complete me english class.